Moar evidence of stupidity in our society

[vaskidmark]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-venice-shooting-20110418,0,6246677.story?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl7%7Csec3_lnk3%7C210169
 

The shooting occurred amid a "flash mob" crowd that was organized at least in part over Twitter, Vasquez said.....

 About 6:30 p.m., six to eight shots rang out at 17th Avenue and Ocean Front Walk, Vasquez said. The victim ran half a block to an alley where he collapsed, Vasquez said.

The crowd scattered through the neighborhood, with some hiding in nearby shops. The bus stops were mobbed with people trying to flee by public transportation....

How many IQ points does one need before realizing that fleeing via public transportation involves standing there waiting until the bus arrives?

But then some of the other comments collected from folks who were there almost make that evacuation plan seem reasonable.

stay safe.

[BlueStarLizzard]

*sigh*

And people running backwards so they won't miss the show...

Can we please have some good stories...

So I don't totally lose faith in mankind?

[MechAg94]

Screw the evolution debate, maybe we should be talking about natural selection in the human race (or lack of it).

[HankB]

. . . Can we please have some good stories... So I don't totally lose faith in mankind?

I was taught at an early age to distance myself from trouble.

Several decades ago back in Chicago my mother was going to the bank to cash a check, and suddenly a swarm of police cars - lights & sirens-  pulled in and surrounded the building. While other people were standing aound to see what was happening, without stopping, Mom pulled out of the parking lot, drove a few hundred feet, turned down a side street (to put some buildings between her and whatever was happening), and went home. She wanted none of what was going on, and had the presence of mind to figure that if bullets started to fly, it would be good to have some buildings between her and the shooters.

Postscript: Mom went back to bank the next day. She asked the teller "What happened?" and the other teller began laughing. It just so happened that the teller she was at had transferred from another branch, where the "panic button" was in a different location - she hit it by accident. And a couple of dozen cops responded, assuming there was an armed robbery in progress. Oops.

[Hawkmoon]

I didn't even get past the photo:

Crowds of people watch as members of the Calypso Tumblers perform along the Venice Beach boardwalk Sunday morning, near the spot where a man would be shot later in the evening. (Rick Loomis, Los Angeles Times / April 17, 2011)

Written media should NOT hire people who failed high school English. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

[vaskidmark]

What?  You want the photog to go back and get a shot of the yellow crime scene tape when he already has a shot of something totally unrelated taking place "near" where the shooting happened?

Darned picky if you ask me.

stay safe.

[MillCreek]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014824414_deputyshooting21m.html



From the article:

Ourada had a criminal history that included 14 arrests in the past seven years and convictions for theft, burglary, possession of stolen property, drug violations, attempting to elude police and reckless driving.

Despite those convictions, Ourada "was not a bad person," said Margaret Thompson, who said she knew both Ourada and the female passenger.

"It doesn't seem right that they shot him," she said. "He just liked stealing cars and having fun."

Emphasis added.

[230RN]

They ought to subject crowds to common sense reasonable restrictions.

(What?  you mean that's unConstitutional?  Where's it say that?)